Swan Lake Loop - Part 04 -The Missing Link
w/e 20 June 2021
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
In March this year we embarked on a Walking For Health
route from the Leisure Centre at Victoria Park in Ilkeston to
Swan Lake and back but had to abandon the part of the walk through
Pewit Carr because of the waterlogged conditions. Now after a
prolonged dry spell we've returned to Swan Lake to walk along
the missing link and complete the route.
Our first objective was to return to the footbridge over the
Nut Brook at the entrance to Pewit Carr so we began the walk
where we would end at the Straw's Bridge Nature Reserve (Swan
Lake) car park. Before we set off there was the small matter
of feeding some of the birds to attend to.
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We followed the path around the edge of the lake where the fine
weather had encouraged a lot of wild flowers to show their true
colours.
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We left the lakeside to pass under the old railway bridge to
the two smaller lakes in the reserve.
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We turned immediately left to follow the path around the larger
of the two smaller lakes. Of the three larger stretches of water
in the Reserve, this is the middle one. When we varied the original
route we had walked along the other side of the lake.
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Also on the original walk we had descended from an embankment
via some steps but by following a different path we climbed up
the slope to the top of the embankment.
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As we walked along the embankment towards the Nutbrook Trail
there was a good view over another wetland area where a couple
of swans had made their home in the Manor Floods Local Nature
Reserve.
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We descended from the embankment on the same up and down path
that we had used on the original walk.
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This took us to the Nutbrook Trail which returned us to the planned
WFH route. The sign indicates the start of the Manner Floods
Nature Reserve.
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We followed the Trail as before to the marker post indicating
the entry to Pewit Carr and the footbridge over the Nut Brook.
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Crossing the bridge we had reached the point where we had abandoned
our previous walk and although it was no longer waterlogged,
there were still muddy patches and puddles of water despite the
prolonged dry spell we had just enjoyed. It didn't deter us this
time though and we continued into Pewit Carr..
We had therefore reached our first objective and now we could
complete the Missing Link back to Swan Lake.
Continued in Part 05
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